Africa: Sata Demands Continent's Permanent UN Seats

By Newsfromafrica

NEW YORK--Zambian President Michael Sata in his debut address to the UN General Assembly on September 25 has demanded that Africa must have permanent seats on the UN Security Council.

In a statement addressing a high-level meeting on the rule of law in the United Nations General Assembly Hall, Sata made an earnest appeal to Africa nations to unite and demand permanent seats on the UN Security Council for Africa. President Sata urged Africans to stand up and be counted.

“Since the League of Nations up to today, Africa is more of a spectator than a participant. We have no permanent members in the Security Council and yet we represent 54 members in this House,” President Sata said.

“We cannot talk of the rule of law when we don’t respect each other. Therefore, all Africans must stand up and be counted. We must become permanent members of the Security Council,” President Sata said.

President Sata’s statement is said to be in line with the committee of 10, commonly known as C10, an African Union (AU) formation, advocating that Africa should have two permanent seats on the UN Security Council, with veto powers and an extra two non-permanent seats to address the historical injustices that Africa suffered and to adhere to the geo-political realities of the modern times.

Zambia and Namibia are the two African countries that represent the Southern African Development Community region on the C10. The League of Nations was the forerunner to the United Nations.

Out of the 193 members of the UN, Africa has 54 states, making it the continent with the highest number of UN member states.

Currently, the UN Security Council is composed of five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America – and 10 non-permanent members, of which only South Africa, Morocco and Togo are from Africa. The non-permanent seats are on a two-year regional rotational basis.